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Monday, 16 July 2007

British troops should be pulled out of Iraq even though the violence is likely to get worse, a cross-party commission has told Gordon Brown.

The commission co-chaired by Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, called for an end to offensive military operations by British forces and a “clear exit strategy”.

The findings stepped up the pressure on the Prime Minister to seek a change of policy on Iraq at his forthcoming summit with President Bush. The report said the UK should “actively and urgently … pursue changes of policy from our allies”.

Mr Bush rejected a vote by Democrats in the House of Representatives last week for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by April next year. But Lord Ashdown, who turned down a post in Mr Brown’s Cabinet, warned that delaying withdrawal until the US “surge” in Iraq has reduced violence would hand the initiative to the insurgents. Read the rest